Weimaria [on sheet with] Iena [and] Erdfordia [and] Gotha [and] Fuldensis Civitatis.

A fine antique copper engraved sheet with five bird's-eye or panoramic views, plans on one sheet: Weimar, Jena, Erfurt, Gotha and Fulda. From 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum', Liber Primus. Köln, 1572.
WEIMAR. TRANSLATION OF CARTOUCHE TEXT: Weimar, a handsome town in Thuringia, the famous seat of the Dukes of Saxony. COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: " Weimar is an interesting city in Thuringia, which was formerly a county but now serves as the residence of the Duke of Saxony. These is a palace here, very beautifully built out of ashlars and worth seeing.
There is also a promenade garden, skilfully laid out with all sort of trees, through which flows the Ilm, which shortly afterwards converges with the Saale."

JENA. TRANSLATION OF CAPTION: Jena, city in Thuringia, known and famed on account of its Muses and in particular its vineyards.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Jena is a city in Thuringia, but I do not see how this name can be derived from Janus since this god was not even worshipped in Germany. Jena is situated in a valley; well fortified with walls and towers; it has a bridge over the Saale and is surrounded on all sides by a pleasant hills and vineyards and also has an elementary school."
The cityscape is characterised by densely crowded houses, by monasteries and above all by the parish church of St Michael, rising above its surroundings with its distinctive spire.
First mentioned in records in 1182, Jena received its charter in 1230. After belonging to the Lobdeburgs, in 1331 it passed into the possession of the Wettin family; from 1423 it formed part of the Electorate of Saxony. During the Peasants' was of 1524 the Carmelite convent and the Diminician monastery were destroyed.
The university was founded in 1558 by Duke John Frederick II of Saxony. The printing industry, which had been flourishing in Jena since the start of the 16th century, rapidly gained in importance as the university expanded.

ERFURT. CAPTION: Erfurt, a magnificent and famous city in Thuringia. COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Erfurt is a capital in Thuringia; in the city there is a high hill that is today called St Peter's Mount, on which there formerly stood a castle, which was destroyed, however, and when Dagobert was ruler of the Franks a monastery in honour of St Peter was built here. Boniface, the archbishop of Mainz, built the church of Our Lady beside it.
The land around Erfurt is fertile beyond bounds; there is also a university here, which was founded in 1392 and granted numerous privileges by Boniface IX and Pius II."
The viewer looks at the city, with the Petersberg (St Peter's Mount) at its centre, from a distance. The monastery with the Romanesque church of SS Peter and Paul was built in the 12th century and temporarily accommodated Emperor and kings during the Imperial Diet in Erfurt.
The city's most distinctive landmark is the architectural ensemble of the Gothic cathedral (St. Marien) and the Gothic Severikirche, vidible on the left behind St Peter's church. On another hill on the far left, at an elevation of 265 m, lies Cyriaksburg: commenced in 1480 and thus seen here in an early form, the castle was later extensively remodelled.
Erfurt was founded in AD 742 by Boniface and soon incorporated within the see of Mainz. In 1392 it saw the inauguration of Germany's third-oldest university, whode most famous student would be Martin Luther, who arrived here in 1501.

GOTHA. CARTOUCHE: Gotha, the best-fortified town in Thuringia, with its famous ring wall, level squares and a castle. The fortress was razed to the ground because it served as a hideout for those outlawed by the Holy Roman Empire.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Wilhelm Grumbach was outlawed with all his allies by Emperor Ferdinand I and his son Maximilian II due to his many wrong-doings [...] through which he wanted to overthrow the Emperor and set up a new ruler. [...]"
The view shows the small town heavily fortified with embankments, moats and bastions, with the raised, circular complex of Grimmenstein castle on the right, which stood on the site now occupied by the Baroque Friedenstein palace.
The castle was built in the 11th century but was razed in 1567 in the wake of the Grumbach Feud. Gotha was granted its minicipal charter in the middle of the 12th century and gained importance early on as the residence of the Landgraves of Thuringia and as a centre of trade.
In the 17th century Gotha became the seat of the Protestant Dukes of Saxe-Gotha and as a consequence a centre of the natural sciences, arts and the Enlightenment.

FULDA. CAPTION: Picture of the city of Fulda and its famous abbey. COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Fulda lies between Thuringa, Franconia, Wetterau and Hesse. The Fulda flows past this city and has given it its name. There is an admirable old cathedral here, a particular jewel of the whole land [...] and built in AD 755, in the time of St Boniface and King Pippin. Others say it was built by Boniface and Charlemagne as a monastery, and that it afterwards grew into a town."
The engraving shows the town in side view. Inside the city walls on the right is the large monastery complex that was founded in 744 on Boniface's initiative and which represents the germ cell of the town.
The Ratgar basilica, which houses the tomb of St Boniface, was built from 791 to 819 and is easily recognisable on account of its extravagant design with two towers. In the mid-12th Fulda experienced un upswing under Abbot Marward I, who had citadels and fortifications constructed. In 1208 it became a town and from then on enjoyed its own right, independent of the Church, which regularly led to conflicts.
Frederick II elevated the abbots of the monastery to the rank of princes of the empire. Prince-Abbot Heinrich von Weilnau had a fortified abbot's palace built from 1294 to 1312: it is visible to the right of the central city gate, on the edge of the monastery precinct (Taschen).

The 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum', or the "Braun & Hogenberg", is a six-volume town atlas and the greatest book of town views and plans ever published: 363 engravings, sometimes beautifully colored. It was one of the best-selling works in the last quarter of the 16th century. Georg Braun wrote the text accompanying the plans and views on the verso.
A large number of the plates were engraved after the original drawings of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), who was a professional artist. The first volume was published in Latin in 1572, the sixth volume in 1617. Frans Hogenberg created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were cartographer Daniel Freese, and Heinrich Rantzau.
Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Translations appeared in German and French.

Reference: Van der Krogt 4, 4795 (Second plate); Taschen, Braun and Hogenberg, p.82-83.